Road going vehicles have a large number of complex systems which provide the vehicle with efficient operation, safety, comfort and effectiveness in completing the specific transportation tasks for which they are designed. As one example, vehicle suspension systems are designed to carry the particular vehicle over an underlying roadway surface, often at high speeds, in a manner which maintains traction, comfort and safety for riders and cargo. Suspension systems are particularly designed for the specific vehicle. For instance, large truck suspension systems are designed to effectively support the vehicle above an underlying surface with a variety of different vehicle weights, because the vehicle must operate safely both when empty and when full. Much consideration and expense goes into the design and construction of such suspension systems. Other vehicle systems are similarly carefully designed, and have similarly evolved to a high degree of sophistication.
For the last one hundred years nearly all road going vehicles have been driven by an internal combustion engine. While internal combustion engines have a variety of advantages and are generally effective in powering road going vehicles, they do have certain drawbacks. In the last decade a greater number of “hybrid” vehicles have been brought into service. Such hybrid vehicles still have an internal combustion engine, but also benefit from the unique and beneficial attributes of some form of electric motor and electric power supply integrated in some fashion into the power train of the vehicle. Examples of the benefits of hybrid power trains include the opportunity to take advantage of regenerative braking, the high torque available from even a low horse power electric motor, especially at low speeds, the opportunity to have an internal combustion engine operate closer to a steady state optimal efficiency, rather than needing to cover a large dynamic range of performance, and the decreasing of the size of the combustion engine while still maintaining overall vehicle peak power requirements.
One factor which has inhibited the introduction of hybrid power trains and other power trains including electric power equipment therein, is the large number of complex vehicle subsystems which must be effectively designed if a new vehicle is to be completely redesigned and built “from scratch.” If one desires to develop such a vehicle including an electric power supply, one must invest appropriately to provide designs not only for the new power train, but also for each of the various systems required in the design of the vehicle. Thus, an exceptionally large financial expense, timeframe, manpower and overall risk burden must be shouldered to effectively bring such a new vehicle to market. Even if existing subsystem technology is available for license, the licensing cost is encountered.
Accordingly, a need exists for a kit which can allow all of the vehicle subsystems other than the power plant to still be utilized, and merely replace the internal combustion engine with a replacement power plant including electric motor components. Such a kit would be especially useful when an internal combustion engine or transmission in a used vehicle is nearing the end of its useful life. Supplying such a kit would also allow a large number of independent individuals to utilize such a kit to modify their own vehicles or to provide the custom service of vehicle modification for others. A large number of high quality rewarding jobs would thus be provided for a large number of individuals. This opportunity is particularly great for light and heavy duty trucks and other commercial vehicles where the benefits of power trains including an electric motor drive component therein can have the benefits thereof enjoyed on a potentially larger scale, and wherein room is often available to house the elements of the kit.